22

This time, it took almost three minutes before a reply came.

[Tomorrow night at 7.]

Zara responded with a single word of agreement. After that, no more messages arrived. She assumed Mavin had already turned off his phone and was preparing to board his flight.

She placed her phone on the seat beside her and stared straight ahead for a few seconds. Then, without hesitation, she turned the steering wheel and drove back toward the main villa in the Jordan territory.

As soon as the black iron gate opened, the sight in the courtyard made her pause.

Several vehicles were parked in front of the main entrance. Pack servants were moving back and forth, carrying large suitcases, wooden boxes carved with the pack crest, and special storage chests usually used to keep moon-charged artifacts.

Amid the bustle stood Marina.

She was wearing a simple white dress that fluttered gently in the evening breeze. Her hair flowed softly over her shoulders, her face calm like a Luna who rightfully belonged there. In a gentle yet firm voice, she instructed, “Be careful with that chest. It’s a gift from Alpha Declan for me. The moon crystals inside are very fragile.”

The servants immediately bowed. “Yes, Madam. We will be careful.”

Marina did not reject the title. She simply smiled faintly, as if it already suited her.

Zara stood a few steps from the gate, watching everything without moving.

Strange.

Last night, when she signed the mate bond dissolution document before the Council of Elders, her heart felt calm. Even when her blood and Declan’s dripped onto the separation sigil, she did not feel suffocated.

But now, seeing another woman standing in the courtyard she once tended, touching the objects she had once personally chosen, that unfamiliar ache finally came.

This villa was no longer her home.

She had not even taken a step forward when Marina noticed her presence.

That gentle gaze paused briefly. Then Marina whispered something to the servants before walking over with an elegant smile.

“Zara,” she greeted softly. “I’m sorry. The apartment I rented is being renovated with new energy protection, so it’s not livable yet. Declan asked me to stay here for now. You don’t mind, do you?”

Her smile was delicate.

But her eyes held a sharp glint she could not conceal.

Zara looked at her without expression. “If I mind, will you leave?”

Marina fell silent for a moment.

She had not expected such a firm response. All this time, Zara had always chosen to step back. Even during the fifth anniversary celebration when Declan disappeared in the middle of the party and reappeared with Marina on the back balcony Zara had only smiled as if she had seen nothing.

For years, Marina had deliberately sent photos of her time with Declan, allowed rumors to spread, and even provoked direct reactions several times. Yet Zara had never fought back openly.

That was why she assumed today would be no different.

Marina quickly adjusted her expression, about to speak again, but her gaze suddenly shifted behind Zara.

She froze.

Before Zara could turn around, a low, cold voice sounded from behind her.

“Of course not,” Declan said without emotion. “Just as I never objected to you living in this villa for five years.”

The tone was sharp, like unsheathed claws.

Declan walked closer and stopped at Marina’s side. Unconsciously, he stood slightly in front of her, as if shielding her. His posture was straight, his Alpha aura pressing heavily into the air around them.

He looked at Zara coldly not as a former partner, but as if facing an opponent in territorial negotiations.

Zara wondered inwardly if she truly appeared that threatening.

A faint smile curved her lips, bitter yet light. “Don’t worry. I was planning to leave this place anyway.”

After all, their bond had entered the Quiet Moon Period. By pack law, she was still recorded as the former Luna for thirty more days. But in her heart, everything was already over.

Yet to Declan, her words sounded like sarcasm.

As if she were playing a tactic retreating to provoke a reaction.

“What do you mean?” he asked flatly.

What did she mean?

Yesterday she signed the rejection agreement. This morning she completed the final administrative ritual. And now, Declan had brought another woman into the villa without pause.

He was still asking what she meant?

Of course, the meaning was simple, giving full space to the partner more suitable to stand beside him.

But Zara had no intention of explaining.

If Declan chose to pretend not to understand, she had no obligation to spell out what was already obvious.

Without another word, Zara walked past them and entered the villa.

The interior that once felt warm now felt like an empty building. The scent of cedarwood and Declan’s familiar aroma still lingered in the air, but it no longer disturbed her heart.

Last night, after signing the agreement, she had already packed some of her personal belongings. The villa belonged to the Jordan Clan. All the jewelry, formal clothes, and gifts Declan had given her, she left behind.

In the end, five years of marriage fit into one medium-sized suitcase.

Strangely, that was enough.

She knew that if Declan truly wanted to destroy her, a single command would be enough to burden her with clan debt or strip her of her inheritance rights entirely. She could even be forced to serve the Jordan Pack for life as political compensation.

But Declan did not do that.

Perhaps not out of kindness but because, to him, Zara was no longer important.

Her steps were steady as she climbed the stairs.

Below, Declan stared at her back, his jaw tightening.

“Zara,” he called sharply. “What kind of attitude is that?”

In just one day, the woman who used to bow her head now dared to walk past him without permission. She didn’t even turn around.

In a few days, would she truly treat him as nothing more than a stranger?

The more he thought about it, the hotter his blood ran.

Declan finally strode after her. But when he reached the middle of the staircase, he saw the bedroom door open.

Zara stepped out, a suitcase in her hand.